T-case swap

[08 ranger]

Hi guys I was thinking about doing a transfer case swap in my 2008 ford ranger with 4.0 and manual transmission. It has the 1354 automatic t-case. I found a 2002 with a manual t-case. Is this swap possible? I know I'll probably need the extension housing for the linkage to bolt in.
Would it also be possible to wire it up to make the 4x4 lights in the cluster light up when in 4 wheel drive?

 

[Shran]

Yes it's totally doable, it's the same t-case. You will need the shifter, boot, floor plate, etc. Your trans tailhousing should be threaded for the shifter bolt.

I'm sure there's a way to make the 4x4 lights work. It would involve tracing the wires to the shift motor to see which ones go where, I'm assuming the newer t-cases have a range position switch like the older ones do, so it's probably just a matter of splicing the correct wires into that switch.

 

[RonD]

No on the 4x4 lights, the 2004 and up Rangers have the HEC digital dash, so the 4x4 lights are operated via the CAN bus data network, so the 4x4 module(behind the radio) would send "data" to the cluster so it would turn on or off the 4x4 lights
And it won't send that data unless the shift motor on the transfer case was in the correct position.

Now you could leave the shift motor connected to the wiring harness and wire tie it up out of the way, then turn the knob on the dash to what you want, then shift manually into that same position
But I do think that's a little over the top to get the lights to work, lol

2003 and earlier use analog dash with analog 4x4 lights, and a manual transfer case does have 2 wire ground switch that could ground 4high or 4low light bulbs in dash

You could make your own lights, maybe make something to replace the 4x4 knob in the dash
The bulbs both get 12v with key on, then are grounded by the position switch on transfer case

There are 4x4 ICONS like these: https://res.cloudinary.com/yourmechanic/image/upload/dpr_auto,f_auto,q_auto/v1/article_images/1_Four_Wheel_Drive_Indicator

On many many 4x4s, all different types, you could buy a damaged cluster to get the ICONS you like, to build a display

EDIT:
I think these have a back light: https://www.frontiernet.net/~jcray/04F250/4x4sw-1.JPG
Maybe you could figure a way to section it off and use LEDs to light up 4high and 4low separately, and even 2WD using a relay and 2 diodes